


he can't sit still (puzzling and painting)

by WattStalf



Series: cos your love's got the best of me (baby, you're making a fool of me) [17]
Category: Baccano!
Genre: Drabble, F/M, Fluff, general warning for them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-25
Updated: 2016-07-25
Packaged: 2018-07-29 05:25:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7671790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WattStalf/pseuds/WattStalf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>God, he could watch her like this forever.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	he can't sit still (puzzling and painting)

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally two separate drabbles in my old Baccano drabble series that I deleted, but I reposted them as one because yeah. Here it is, something I was semi-proud of and didn't let stay deleted.

 

He can't sit still. Ladd's the sort of man who likes to be on the move, who likes to be _doing_ something, and preferably doing something very active. Lua is his opposite in so many ways, and her peaceful, still hobby is one of those. He can't sit still and yet, whenever he surprises her with a new puzzle to solve, he always, _always_ tries to, because he loves to watch her when she works.

Sitting across the table from her while she stares down at the pieces, a look of tranquility gracing her features- that is always how one could describe her face but she works, it's _different_ and he wonders if he's the only one who can tell- while she concentrates. Every now and then she moves, picking up a piece and pressing it into place, and very rarely it isn't the right one and she struggles with it for a moment before setting it back aside.

Lua is, without a doubt, the most beautiful woman Ladd has ever seen, and he rocks back and forth in his seat, bouncing and squirming because it's so _hard_ to keep still, and just looking at her, just knowing that this is _his_ fiancee excites him so much. He doesn't want to distract her but he can't sit still, and sometimes, every once and a while, she looks up at him with the small, delicate smile he's sure she's reserved only for him. An excited laugh that's almost like a giggle escapes him and her smile grows. God, he could watch her like this forever.

Watching her paint is an entirely different situation altogether, but one he loves just as much. Without fail, once she's finished a puzzle, she takes a silent moment to study it, to make sure every piece really _is_ perfectly in place, and then she rises from her seat without a word. Ladd scrambles to get up as well, usually muttering about how he could have gotten whatever she needed or at least pulled her chair out, if she'd only asked, and follows her to where she keeps her supplies.

He always puts her paints away for her, so there are some that she can't reach without his help, and he never remembers doing that on purpose, but it's so nice to be needed by her that he's sure he at least does it on a subconscious level. Whatever the case, he helps her get all the paints down and carries them to the table while she picks out what brushes she wants, and then he goes to get her a cup of water for her brushes.

Once they're back at the table, he has to once again fight himself about holding still, and usually ends up rocking back and forth again. This time, however, Lua isn't nearly as still herself, though there's still a calculated and refined nature to every move she makes, every stroke of her brush as she paints her pictures. Her paint dries quickly; Ladd always makes sure to buy her the kind that does, because he knows how she hates to wait for the paintings to be complete, and once the picture she has in mind is laid out before them, the lines of the puzzle pieces barely noticeable anymore, she sits back to admire it while it finishes drying and Ladd moves her supplies out of the way.

And then she lifts the puzzle from the bottom until she can grip it in both hands, and her quiet, empty laughter echoes in the room as she crumples it up, the pieces spilling over the table, some cascading onto the floor. When the puzzle is completely dismantled, she stands up unceremoniously, taking her brushes to be washed and leaving Ladd alone with the pieces of her beautiful picture.

She never sees him gather up the pieces to save for later, and she's never seen him try to piece them back together when he can't sleep, but he thinks she knows all the same.

 


End file.
